I believe (although, I don't have any sources) that Blizzard have said numerous times they don't believe there to be enough of a plot / storyline with the Emerald Dream to fulfill an entire Expansion. Maybe a major patch, or a plot within an Expansion, but an expansion dedicated to the Emerald Dream would actually put me off a lot.

From what little I have seen, and heard of regarding the Emerald Dream, I don't want to get involved or go there. I'd like some parts of the WoW Universe to remain off-limits to most inhabitants of Azeroth, just for the sake of mystery!

Most certainly not a full expansion. Which is actually a pity, because I really liked those hidden areas...

But I believe we will visit the Emerald Dream eventually. Maybe it will be a quest zone like the Molten Front, maybe a leveling zone like Vashir or Deepholm... And I fully believe the Rift of Aln will be a raid.

Files for it have existed since Vanilla. And yes there's some dev that keeps monkeying around with it. But they never make any progress on turning what was a dev testing area into a viable zone(s).

The novel Stormrage put an end to any hope of the Dream being more than a single raid.

---------- Post added 2013-01-18 at 04:23 PM ----------

Originally Posted by zito

The only argument in that article is the stupid book and it stating "where are we gonna get quests from?"

I mean seriously. The nightmare is still alive, nzoth is in the emerald dream.

AND SHIT CAN STILL HAPPEN IN THE EMERALD DREAM REGARDLESS IF ITS NIGHTMARE OR NOT.

its fantasy, whatever blizz wants they make it. You can't rule out emerald dream expansion, never ever until blizz says : we are never doing emerald dream expansion.

False on all points.

N'Zoth is not in the Dream, he has always resided under the Great Sea.

Things can happen in the Dream, but the Dream is meant to be a perfect Azeroth. If we went there, we'd mess that whole place up like we did Pandaria. The only thing big enough to validate us being let in would be the Nightmare returning.

You don't create "justice" by destroying. That includes buildings, cars, or the careers of the people you want "justice" for.

Doubt it'd be an expansion either just because it doesn't really have much of a hook.
Even the druids these days just seem like a bunch of hippys that have spent the good part of the past few thousand years having a nap.

TBH I thought the whole infinite dragonflight story was much more interesting and could have had its own expac with Well of Eternity as a raid, but that just became a crappy dungeon and I'd imagine the whole emeraly dream will be eventually consigned to a couple of faceroll dungeons too at some point. MAYBE a raid if we're really lucky.

It's still entirely possible. If Blizzard want to do it they'll find a way to make it work, and if Blizzard want to keep Wow going for as long as they say they do they're going to run out of ideas eventually and pretty much have to do it at some point.

I know for sure that an Emerald Dream continent has at least been partially developed and stopped already, you can see it for yourself around the internet. That confirms that Blizzard have intended to make it, and even got to the point where they started production.

As for "not having enough lore or diversity", look at Pandaria - until MoP what was Pandaria? Did you ever believe there'd be enough to make an entire expansion out of it, did you ever imagine the Sha or the Mogu or Mantid? Look at Northrend - a place we had only ever associated with the Scourge but Blizzard forged the Vrykul, Ulduar, Titan lore, Zul'drak, the Nexus War and all the lore that goes along with them out of what was once just a simple plot about the Lich King.

It's well within Blizzard's capability to take what looks like a thin thread and expand it into a whole mass of content.

It's still entirely possible. If Blizzard want to do it they'll find a way to make it work, and if Blizzard want to keep Wow going for as long as they say they do they're going to run out of ideas eventually and pretty much have to do it at some point.

I know for sure that an Emerald Dream continent has at least been partially developed and stopped already, you can see it for yourself around the internet. That confirms that Blizzard have intended to make it, and even got to the point where they started production.

As for "not having enough lore or diversity", look at Pandaria - until MoP what was Pandaria? Did you ever believe there'd be enough to make an entire expansion out of it, did you ever imagine the Sha or the Mogu or Mantid? Look at Northrend - a place we had only ever associated with the Scourge but Blizzard forged the Vrykul, Ulduar, Titan lore, Zul'drak, the Nexus War and all the lore that goes along with them out of what was once just a simple plot about the Lich King.

It's well within Blizzard's capability to take what looks like a thin thread and expand it into a whole mass of content.

This. Right now all we have is a kernel of an idea of what the Dream could be.

I'd like to see us visit it over the course of a few expansions in the form of raids, dungeons and quests. Would be a nice story arch that isn't self contained and could be something quite epic if done right.

The argument that we're, in Mists, already going over the same themes of self-reflection, confronting inner darkness, and dealing with a threat born from our own hearts and minds that an Dream expac would have done is actually a good one. Pandaria has touched upon a number of themes that would naturally have come up in an Emerald Dream expansion, with the corruptive Sha as a stand-in for the Nightmare and its influence. I'll concede that it's a good point.

The further arguments that 'there's nothing there, no towns, it's just forests, there aren't enough races' etc. don't hold up any better now than when they were made when the idea first came up ages ago. Pandaria itself against stands against the critique that an idea is too limited, too small to somehow support an entire expansion. Pandaria used to be nothing but an island kingdom where the pandaren lived. Now it's this whole immense thing, because creative folk took it further than anyone would have thought they could.

Apply that to the Emerald Dream. If the setting is too restrictive, break the restrictions and grow the setting. If the rules won't allow non-druids, break the rules - not like everyone hasn't done those few quests where we literally go into the Dream itself, regardless of their race or class.

If MoP is hitting some of the notes Dream would have, make up new notes.

I may be wrong but isn't the Emerald Dream just a reflection of Azeroth, aside from the Rift of Aln?

..And aside from the fact it's completely green and more plant-like.

Basically yes, it's Azeroth at its first making, before mortals and Deathwing fucked it up. It's still one continent because the Sundering never happened.

He is the life of guilds he has never joined.
He once had a noobish moment- just to see what it felt like.
If he were to beat you in a duel, you would have to fight the strong urge to thank him.
The Lunar Elders have a holiday in which they honor him.
He can speak Darnassian. In Orcish.
He is: The Most Interesting Man in the World of Warcraft.

I may be wrong but isn't the Emerald Dream just a reflection of Azeroth, aside from the Rift of Aln?

..And aside from the fact it's completely green and more plant-like.

The Dream is a living blueprint of Azeroth as the Titans built it, and remains unshaped by mortal hands. It's Azeroth pre-sundering. There could be nearly anything in the region between the current continents of Azeroth.

It should be noted that the Dream reflects all of Azeroth - every environment possible is contained there. Forests, plains, deserts, mountains, frozen tundra, seas, etc. It doesn't need to be 'just forests' any more than Northrend was 'just snow.'

As if more Azeroth would be a bad thing, no one complains when we got more of the same in Pandaria's zones...